(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has lost public support this month, according to a poll by Newspoll published in the Australian. 56 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the Australian Labor Party (ALP) leader’s performance, down seven points since mid-May.

Australia held a federal election in November 2007. Final results gave the ALP 85 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives. ALP leader Kevin Rudd was officially sworn in as prime minister in December, bringing an end to the 11-year tenure of Liberal leader John Howard as head of Australia’s government.

Howard failed to retain his seat in the Bennelong constituency and stepped down as Liberal leader. Brendan Nelson—a former defence minister—defeated former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull in an internal leadership ballot by just three votes. 36 per cent of respondents are content with Nelson’s performance as leader of the opposition.

In the preferred prime minister category, 66 per cent of respondents choose Rudd, while 17 per cent pick Nelson as head of government.

On Jun. 5, Rudd said political leaders from the Asia-Pacific region should assemble a strategic group similar to the European Union (EU), declaring, "The key thing is to enhance security and regional cooperation, which at present is fragmented. (...) Remember the region is currently host to a whole range of unresolved territorial conflicts—the Taiwan Straits, the Korean peninsula, Kashmir, involving a whole range of nuclear weapons states."

Polling Data

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Kevin Rudd is doing his job as prime minister?

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Brendan Nelson is doing his job as leader of the opposition?

Who do you think would make the better prime minister?

Source: Newspoll / The Australian
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,140 Australian voters, conducted from May 30 to Jun. 1, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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